Staff Reporter :Nobel laureate Professor Dr Amartya Sen has said there may be some faults in bourgeois democracy but it will be wrong to refuse others democratic rights in the name of introducing perfect democracy. Laying emphasis on stronger government, he also said no nations in the world could even made progress socially and economically without strengthening their own governments.Dr Sen was addressing a programme on “Economic Development and Human Progress” jointly organised by the Bengali daily Prothom Alo and the think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Kirishibid Institution in the city on Monday. Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), was in the chair. The programme was organised on the occasion of the publication of “Bharat: Unnayan O Banchana,” which is a Bangla translation of the book titled “An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions”, jointly written by Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze. “Many good things may arise from the system despite many faults of the system. It does not seem that a perfect democracy may be established in Bangladesh and India within very short time. But there are many democratic things which may be materialized right now and there is no need to wait further,” the Nobel laureate opined. He said democracy has many aspects. In case of India, democracy is there on the one side and while democratic practices are absent in many fields on the other. Whether poor people can express their opinion or their voices are being heard is the big issue.Unlike before, Sen delivered his 35-minute speech in Bangla, paying tribute to the language martyrs and marking the launching of the Bangla translation of the book, of which he is a co-author.He also gave importance on thorough discussion on problems such as health and education of mass people. “I believe, discussion is needed to change any thing in democracy. Without discussion, possibility of bringing change is little”, he hinted. Observing that the practice of discussion among stakeholders has faced down trend in India where the newspapers are busy in publishing news to meet the demand of well-off groups, and new fashion become the headline of the newspapers. “New trends in fashion are not the main issue of the society. Playing role in progress of mass people is more important. So the media will have to serve the mass people. And the media should talk more with the general people about their problems, “he said.Dr Sen also underlined the importance of human progress as he believes that mere economic growth would only bring some money to a country while spending towards human development opens more avenues for further progress by enhancing the capacity of human resources. “Chinese people are now capable of producing small to big things because their government helped build their skills and capacity by spending in education, health and women development…..India can only think about information technology, pharmaceuticals and auto parts when the issue of producing something in large scale comes across. Like China, India cannot produce many things because people here had not yet been made so skilled and healthy,” he explained.The noted economist said, “Trafficking of poor girls and women along with rape should get more attention of media as without media attention, the victims will not get the justice. The problem of trafficking women will not be solved without proper attention of the government, he said. Most of the victims of the trafficking are poor women from rural areas, and so the incidences do not get media attention, he observed. At the end of the programme he unveiled the book amid huge claps and roar of cheers. Economists, politicians, businessmen, teachers, students, professionals and civil society members thronged the auditorium to listen to the economist, who won the Nobel Prize in 1998 for his contribution to welfare economics.
